Stirrup.



J. MATSEK.

STIRRUP.

APPLICATION FILED MAR- 29 1909. i I 944,889. Patented De0.28,1909.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

J; MATSEK.

STIBQRUP.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, 1909.

Patented Dec. 28, 1909'.

2 BHEETB -SHEET 2 atkznaq anugznl'oz M 7% V I a i witnesses ENITED STATBB PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN MATSEK, OF BLANCA, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, OF ONE-FOURTH TO WILLIAM GALLIA AND ONE-FOURTH TO M. ARTHUR AND G. C. DAVIS, ALL OF BLANCA, COLORADO.

STIRRUP.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN MaTsEK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Blanca, in the county of Costilla and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stirrups, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in stirrups for riding saddles and more particularly to a safety stirrup having a foot piece that will become automatically detached from its hanger on the saddle when the rider is thrown from the horse, thereby effectively preventing all possibility of the rider being dragged.

The object of the invention is to provide a safety stirrup of this character which will be simple and practical in construction and reliable and eflicient in operation.

Vith the above and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel features of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of the im proved safety stirrup; Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical sections taken, respectively on the planes indicated by the lines 2-2 and 3-3 in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the lower or foot section of the stirrup; Fig. 5 is a detail view of the under face of the cross bar of the foot section, the toe piece being removed; Fig. 6 is a detail perspective of the catch; and Fig. 7 is a detail perspective of the hanger section or member. D

The stirrup consists of a hanger section 1 and a foot supporting section 2, the two being detachably united by a catch 3 which is tripped or released by the movement of a' toe piece 4. The foot section 2 may be of any suitable form and construction adapted to receive and support the riders foot and at its top is arranged a cross bar or top piece 5 which receives a portion of the hanger section and carries the catch 3. The hanger section 1 is in the form of a flat plate slotted, as shown at 6, for the reception of a suspending strap 7 which connects it to the saddle and having its lower end reduced and formed with a cross piece 7 from which depend recessed or hook-shaped lugs 8. Said lugs or projections 8 are adapt- Spec'ification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 29, 1909.

Patented Dec. 28, 1909.

Serial No. 486,544.

ed to pass through similar-shaped vertical openings 9 formed in the cross piece or bar 5 of the foot section 2 and the recesses 9 formed in said lugs S are adapted to receive the catch 3, whereby the two sections 1, 2 are locked together. The catch 3 is in the form of a cross bar or head having reduced or recessed ends 10 to enter the recesses 9 in the lugs 8 and from the large central portion of which projects a stem 11. The latter slides in an opening 13 in an enlargement 12 formed upon the bottom face of the top bar 5 of the foot section adjacent to the front edge of said section. Upon the projecting front end of the stem or pin 11 is fixed the toe piece 4 and arranged on the intermediate portion of said stem between said toe piece and the socket 13 in the enlargement 12, is a coil spring 14 which tends to actuate the pin 11 in a forward direction to hold the toe piece or trip 4 projected and the ends 10 of the catch in the recesses 9 of the lu 's 8.

Vhlle the toe piece 4 may be of any suitable form and construction, it is preferably curved longitudinally and so shaped and arranged that the riders toe will engage and actuate it should the rider be thrown from the horse. It will be seen that when the toe piece 4 is actuated rearwardly against the tension of the spring 14, the catch 3 will disengage the lugs 8 so that the foot section 2 will drop off of the hanger section 1, thereby freeing the rider from the saddle and effectively preventing him from being dragged; but to render the separation of the two sections 1, 2 more certain and instantaneous when the catch 3 unlocks them, I provide a spring 15 for causing the auto matic and instantaneous separation of the sections 1, 2 when they are unlocked. Said spring 15 is preferably in the form of a coil arranged and secured in a socket 16 formed in the bottom of the hanger section 1 and adapted to surround a vertical pin 17 projecting from the top of the center of the cross bar 5 of the foot section 2. As illustrated, said pin 17 consists of a screw ar ranged within a sleeve or tube having a flanged lower end set in the cross bar 5 but it may be of other form and construction.

In operation, assuming the parts to be in their normal engaged position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, should the rider be thrown from the animal, the toe of his shoe will engage the toe piece or trip 4; and move the latter rearwardly against the tension of the spring let, thereby causing the catch 3 to disengage the recesses or shoulders on the lugs S and the spring 15 will then force the foot section 2 off of the lugs 8 so that the rider will be freed from the saddle.

It will be seen that the operation of the stirrup will be entirely automatic and that the user cannot possibly be dragged by the animal when thrown from the saddle.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

The herein described safety stirrup comprising a flat hanger section having a slot in its upper portion for a suspending strap and a reduced lower portion having a head formed in the center of its bottom with a vertical socket and also formed intermediate its ends and on opposite sides of said socket with integral lugs, the latter having their side edges notched, a coil spring fixed in the bottom of said socket and adapted to project therefrom, a foot section having a U-shaped foot piece and an upper cross bar, the latter being formed with spaced vertically extending openings to receive said lugs and having a fiat top and a bottom formed with an enlargement, said enlargement being formed with a horizontally extending guide opening disposed in a plane between said lug receiving openings, a horizontally extending catch stem slidable in said guide opening, a cross piece fixed to one end of said catch stem and forming a catch, said cross piece having reduced ends to enter the notches in the lugs on the hanger section, a longitudinally curved toe piece fixed to the forward end of said stem and depending therefrom, a coil spring upon said stem between the toe piece and the upper cross piece of the foot section, and an upstanding pin on the upper cross piece of the foot section between the vertical openings therein, said pin being adapted to enter the coil spring in the socket of the hanger section.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN HATSEK.

W'itnesses VILLIAM GALLIA,

T. D. NASH. 

